Reimer, James DavisLorion, JulienIrei, YukaHoeksema, Bert W.Wirtz, Peter2018-12-072018-12-072017-060025-31541469-7769http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/11524This is the first report on the Zoantharia fauna (Cnidaria: Hexacorallia) of the isolated oceanic island of Ascension, southern Atlantic, where zoantharians are a dominant component of the shallow-water benthos. Specimens from two expeditions (1983, 2012) were examined regarding external morphology and molecular phylogeny using three DNA markers, which confirmed the presence of four zoantharian species: Palythoa caribaeorum; Palythoa aff. clavata; Parazoanthus swiftii; and Zoanthus sp. Two of these, Palythoa aff. clavata and Parazoanthus swiftii, were previously only known from the western Atlantic and Caribbean. Molecular examination of the zooxanthellae (=Symbiodinium spp.) of Palythoa specimens showed that they were in association with only one type, subclade C1.engPalythoa-tuberculosaZoanthids AnthozoaCoral-reefsDiversityEvolutionAtlanticPacificJapanSpecificitySystematicsjournal article10.1017/S0025315414000654